And I Ask Myself - "How Did I Get Here?"

Ever imagined being told you’ve got cancer? Me neither but at the beginning of April I was!

Just six weeks earlier I had popped along to my GP thinking I had a boil in my neck and then found myself being fast-forwarded through a series of scans, biopsies, & exploratory operations, to finally  end up sitting in front of a Consultant being told I had tonsil cancer and my boil was in fact a tumour. It all seemed a bit surreal at the time but unfortunately has now become somewhat real.

Apologies, I should have introduced myself. I’m Craig, aged 54, and live with my wife, Karen, in Glasgow’s West End. 

Last year, after a life-time in banking (it certainly felt that way towards the end), I took the opportunity to leave and set up my own business. Karen had done something similar a few years earlier. Having worked for over 30 years for large corporations I wanted, and needed, to do something different. As a couple, our approach to life has very much been “let’s do it now” instead of waiting until “we’ve retired, got enough behind us, or worry about what others might think” sort of stuff. 

So why then have I decided to write a blog about my cancer journey and share it with you?

Well, it’s fair to say we didn't see this one coming and it knocked us for six a bit, especially at the start. We have no experience of cancer amongst friends and family so don’t really know what we’re about to face. We know all about the treatment stuff - 6 weeks of Radiotherapy and Chemotherapy, the side effects, the success rates, etc but don't know how we will be either as individuals or a couple. There’s a bit of trying to capture what we go through — hopefully lots of good, possibly a bit of bad, & likely some funny.

I know I’m not the first or last person to have cancer but hopefully if you can join me on my journey you’ll find my ramblings amusing, interesting and maybe even helpful. Things kick off on 12th May when my treatment starts. I do hope to see you on this road I’m about to travel. It’d be great to have your company.

Craig and Karen